The Huntress' Secret
by Nonny The Anon One
Summary: One night, while out ghost hunting, Valerie’s life is forever changed.  Now she has a secret, and the only person who can possibly understand, is her worst enemy.
1. Chapter 1

**This idea was formed from a "conversation" with The Bushranger. More A/N to follow. And well…if this idea has been done before, well… I guess that's tough, FFN will have another story like this.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom or any of the related characters, despite my pleading with God, and never will, and yet, hope still springs eternal. **

**Summary: One night, while out ghost hunting, Valerie's life is forever changed. Now she has a secret, and the only person who can possibly understand is her worst enemy.**

**Big thank you to Nom de Plume for being so kind as to consent being my beta reader.**

The Huntress's Secret

Chapter One

It was a clear and crisp Sunday evening which found Valerie Grey, the huntress, chasing the Box Ghost through Amity Park. She was doing pretty well; he was the fourth ghost she'd confronted that evening, and she was hoping that, since she had the practice in, she's be able to confront the ghost kid today. She was in fine form and feeling great.

Her new ghost hunting suit was better than the first. It just seemed to move easier, flow easier, and follow her commands so much better; it was also much less constricting. She loved it, and she couldn't wait to confront that darned ghost kid for the first time in it. She was absolutely positive that the next time they met, he would meet his end.

She had just blasted the silly Box Ghost in the behind when her suit began to shake and shudder. The Box Ghost took the pause in action as an opportunity to hit her with half a dozen boxes, sending her flying into the wall. Her sled slid from beneath her feet and the next thing she knew she was sprawled out on the ground, feeling disoriented.

The Box Ghost, surprisingly enough, had grown marginally smarter in his fights with Danny and Valerie, and he knew when he had the advantage—and the advantage was for escape. He threw a few boxes at the disabled huntress then took off as quickly as possible. He eventually ran into Danny Phantom and was sucked into a Fenton Thermos, as was typical when he was out on one of his terrors.

Valerie lay on the ground groaning in pain. Her back was aching from the impact of the wall. She cursed the limitations of the suit—the ghost boy would have been able to phase himself through the wall…though she did note that most of the time, he hit, too.

She stood, dusted herself off, and was about to deactivate the suit when she felt a faint electrical sizzle dust across her skin. She frowned and looked at her hands. They were glowing with a slightly green light.

"That's weird," she said to herself. All her weapons gave off a pinkish-red glow, not green.

Suddenly a voice, sounding oddly familiar and nasal, sounded in her ear. "Ghost Suit version 2.0 off-line. Breech of ecto-containment will occur in three minutes. Commence emergency exit procedures now."

Valerie felt a sense of panic welling up through her body, causing her to chill. Emergency exit procedures? What were they?

"Suit," she said, hoping it would answer, "please define 'emergency exit procedures'." The recorded voice started to answer but was cut off.

"Ghost Suit version 2.0 off-line. Breech of ecto-containment will occur in two minutes. Commence emergency exit procedures now."

Valerie took a deep, calming breath. Everything was going to be all right. She was going to figure this out. She attempted to remove one of the gloves, but it wouldn't budge. She then tried to remove her mask, but it was firmly attached as well.

"Commence exit procedures," she ordered, but nothing happened.

"Ghost Suit version 2.0 off-line. Breech of ecto-containment will occur in one minute. Commence emergency exit procedures now," the suit intoned.

"Ah, hell!" Valerie growled as she looked around frantically. She tried several times to disable the suit but met with failure each time.

"Ghost Suit version 2.0 off-line. Breech of ecto-containment will occur in thirty seconds. Commence emergency exit procedures now," the suit told her calmly.

"No! No! No!" Valerie cried. "This can't be happening!" She frantically tried to remove the suit, but nothing she tried worked. She searched for buttons or a zipper or any type of closure which would help her. There was nothing.

"Ghost Suit version 2.0 off-line," the voice from the suit informed her. "Breach of ecto-containment in ten, nine, eight, seven..." the suit intoned.

"Oh man, no!" Valerie cried as she crouched down and waited. She figured this was the end.

"Six, five, four, three," the suit continued.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Valerie cried as she covered her face.

"Two, one," the suit finished. Valerie screamed as a bright green light—flickering from stop-light red, then back to green, as if it were a traffic signal not knowing if it should tell people to stop or go—encompassed her vision. An electrical current rushed through her, starting at her waist, then moving down her legs and up to her head. She felt a rush of dizziness as her body began to shake and twitch from the buzz of the electric current coursing through her.

The huntress lay on the ground in the quiet back alley convulsing with pain as the suit's ecto breech soaked into her body. She screamed at first, but then lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she had no idea what had happened after that—she just knew she was happy to be alive.

The suit was gone. Whether it had burnt itself out, or simply retracted into its hidden state, she wasn't sure—and she wasn't about to check. She sat up and put her hand to her head.

She was back in her normal clothes. Orange skirt, yellow shirt…all in order. They were a bit singed, but she was okay. Her skin felt sensitive and strange, but it showed no signs of burns.

Valerie wasn't sure what to do next. She stood shakily and looked around the alley. She couldn't stay here, that's for sure. An alley wasn't the safest place in the world for a fourteen-year-old girl to hang out in, even if she could defend herself better than most adults.

She looked back briefly at where she'd been laying and frowned to see her outline burnt into the ground. It looked as if the broken pavement had endured a long concentrated blast of intense heat. She blinked in shock then walked home, feeling weak and shaky. Her biggest hope now was that she wouldn't run into the ghost kid—that was the last thing she needed tonight.

* * *

"You're late," Valerie's father, Damon Grey, said angrily as his daughter walked through the door.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she apologized. "I just lost all track of time." She looked at him sweetly and he sighed.

"I expect you to be more responsible, Val," he said. "You've been so good lately, keeping up your grades, working your job as well as helping me keep the house. I'm disappointed."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Valerie repeated, then looked down at her feet. She knew her father had every right to be angry; she just wished that he wasn't so overprotective—it not only made her life difficult, it made ghost hunting difficult. She looked at the clock and closed her eyes in defeat. It was eight forty-five; he was going to ground her.

"You leave me no choice, Val," Damon said. "You're grounded for two weeks. I hope that will teach you to respect your responsibilities."

Valerie closed her eyes and sighed. Two weeks! Two weeks was two weeks too long. She let her shoulders drop in defeat. What did it matter now? Her ghost hunting suit was fried.

She put her hand to her aching head. Her suit was ruined! What was she going to do now? Call Mr. Masters and beg for a new one? She already suspected that her suit had been a costly piece of equipment—besides, there is no way a replacement would be as good as her new, unexplained suit.

"You missed dinner," Damon said as he warily watched his daughter. "I saved a plate for you. It's in the oven."

"Thanks, Daddy," Valerie replied. "But I'm not really feeling too hungry. Do you mind if I just…go to bed?" Damon stood and put his hand on his daughter's forehead. She didn't feel warm, but he could tell something was wrong.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked tenderly.

Valerie looked up at her father in surprise. "N-no," she answered. "Not really. I-I just want to go to bed." Damon sighed; he suspected her defeated demeanor and her lateness had something to do with ghost hunting. He wished he could stop her, but short of moving from Amity Park (which wasn't an option until Axion Labs was secure and his reputation and business was restored), he couldn't stop her.

"Okay," Damon told his daughter gently. "How about we talk about it tomorrow?" Valerie nodded her head and he kissed her cheek.

"Goodnight, Daddy," she said as she hugged him tightly, then ran to her room. Damon watched her go sadly. He played clueless, but he was very aware of her life. From the old ghost hunting suit to the new one. From her vendetta against Danny Phantom to her failed relationship with Danny Fenton. He sighed deeply, wishing he could help his daughter; but the best he could do was just try to be there to try and catch her when she fell. He just wished that he could keep her from falling.

* * *

Valerie took a quick cool shower. She had to adjust the water temperature. The hot water from the shower made her skin burn. She checked herself over in the mirror. She didn't look like she'd been burnt. Her skin looked completely normal. She looked completely normal.

She lay in bed and looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what had happened. Maybe there were protections built into the suit, shielding her from whatever an ecto-containment breech was; maybe she was dead and her consciousness just imagined she was still alive.

Maybe she was a ghost. She shuddered at the thought. She hated ghosts; she was completely and utterly repulsed by them. Ghosts needed to be destroyed, and the thought of becoming one filled her with terror.

Valerie closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She'd already assessed her situation to the best of her abilities. She would go back to the alley tomorrow and see what she could figure out, then she'd call Mr. Masters and see what he had to say.

She forced herself to drift off to sleep. It wasn't easy, but Valerie was extremely disciplined, and she made her restless body and mind adhere to her will. It wasn't easy, but she did it.

Strange dreams filled her mind as she drifted in sleep. Dreams of flying without the ghost suit. Dreams of her legs disappearing and forming a ghostly tail. Dreams of pain so intense that if she hadn't been dreaming, she would have passed out.

When she woke up it was to find that her right arm was gone. She almost screamed as she held it in front of her. She blinked in shock as she wiggled her fingers. She could feel her arm? Why couldn't she see it?

She concentrated hard on her arm and it slowly faded back into sight. She opened her mouth in shock then jumped as her father knocked on her door.

"Wake up, Sweetie," he said. "It's time to get ready for school."

"Okay, Daddy," she answered as she looked at her arm. "I'm up. I'll be out in a minute." She wiggled her fingers then pinched her arm.

"Maybe I just imagined that," she said to herself as she climbed out of bed. She dressed quickly, forced down breakfast and headed to school, and forgetting all about her mysteriously disappearing arm in the process, chalking it up to a hallucination from her sleeping mind as she awoke.

* * *

Valerie sighed as she stood at her locker. Star was leaning beside her complaining about her weekend.

"Every time I find a guy I like," Star moaned, "who possibly likes me back, Paulina walks in swinging her hips and batting her eyes. She swoops in and takes off with him. It's not like she wants him in the first place. She just likes the power. I'm getting sick of it."

Valerie closed her locker and looked at Star sadly. "Why don't you just stop hanging out with her, then? Why do you even put yourself in that situation?"

"I don't know," Star sighed. "I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment. Besides, if it wasn't for Paulina I wouldn't get invited to any of the great parties and…"

"Oh, come off it, Star," Valerie said in irritation. "Why do you have such a low opinion of yourself and how other people view you?"

Star shook her head. "Because believe it or not, Val, we're not all smart, confident and pretty like you. Some of us only have our looks to get us by, and we all know what happens when we get old. We turn into ugly old hags by twenty-five."

"It's your heart that matters," Valerie said. "You've got a good heart, Star, I just wish you'd see that!" Star simply shook her head sadly as they walked down the hall. Valerie could see Danny, Sam and Tucker standing together talking as they walked by. Danny noticed her and waved happily as Sam looked up and narrowed her eyes. Valerie waved back at Danny, tried to ignore Sam and turned back to Star.

"Are you going to give me that inner beauty speech again?" Star asked as she looked toward Danny and shook her head. "Because, you know, that didn't help last time."

Valerie smiled slightly at Star. "Why would you want a guy who's going to be lured away by Paulina, anyway?" she asked. "A guy like that is only after one thing."

"Because he's cute," Star answered. "I mean, why do you like Danny Fenton?"

"'Cause he's cute," Valerie said as she smiled at her friend.

"Exactly!" Star said as if she had just proven her point.

"But that's not the only reason," Valerie continued as she put her books down at her desk. "Just the initial one." Star said nothing, just smiled and nodded her head. Valerie rolled her eyes and smiled back.

* * *

Listening to Lancer drone on and on about Charles Dickens had put many people to sleep in his history at Casper High. It was hard to keep your eyes open as his monotone voice went on and on about the most boring aspects of a book. Valerie was no exception to this phenomenon.

She looked briefly at Star who was staring at Lancer with glazed eyes. Valerie smiled slightly then put her elbow on her desk, leaned on her hand and closed her eyes, only for a second. Suddenly, she felt as though the desk disappeared from beneath her elbow. She caught herself before she fell to the floor then looked at the desk in bewilderment. She looked at her elbow and frowned.

Something strange was happening to her. Her elbow was tingling strangely. She looked up at Lancer then back down at her desk. Did her elbow just slide off of it? Or did it actually go through it? How in the world did that happen?

Valerie looked back up at Lancer and frowned as she made eye contact with the teacher, who was giving her a warning look. Whatever it was, she'd have to deal with it later, either that or risk detention, and she was already in enough trouble as it was.

* * *

**So there it is, another story. You can probably guess what happened to Valerie. I KNOW I said that I wouldn't do this to any characters, but this idea was just too good to pass up. This is not a romance, there may be a little implied DxV, but don't go looking for a DxV fic here. This is all about Valerie…and likely it will be short, under 20,000 words (I hope).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Big thanks to Nom de Plume for working as a wonderful beta-reader on this chapter.**

Chapter Two

"What's with you today?" Star asked as she and Valerie walked toward the cafeteria for lunch. "You are, like, totally zoned out."

"I had an accident yesterday," Valerie answered quietly. "I'm still feeling a bit strange."

Star blinked at Valerie in bewilderment, then looked around for other listening ears. "You mean an accident with that stupid ghost hunting suit you insist on playing around with?" she asked as she wiggled her fingers. Valerie nodded her head. Star was a little shallow, and not too bright, but she was the only friend Valerie had who she could trust with such a secret—and even that trust was tenuous.

"Val," Star said, then paused. "I really wish you would give it up. Seriously, you're going to, like, get yourself killed in that thing one of these days."

Valerie shook her head and frowned. "You're probably going to get your wish," she whispered. "I think the suit is broken."

"I'm sorry," Star said sadly. "I mean, I'm glad, because I care about you, Val, and I don't want to see you hurt…but I'm sorry too."

"Thanks," Valerie replied as she smiled at her friend. Star patted her arm briefly then looked around the cafeteria.

"Yuck," she groaned. "Greasy, fattening Sloppy Joes again!" She sighed and shook her head as Valerie put her books at their table.

"I guess I have to go stand in the salad line with freaky Goth girl," Star moaned. "I feel like such a loser." Valerie chuckled as she looked toward Sam, standing in the lunch line. She paused, then looked toward the table the Goth girl always shared with her two best friends.

Valerie watched for a moment as Tucker leaned his elbow on the table and pointed down at what looked to be some kind of map. Danny was shaking his head in disagreement and Tucker was rolling his eyes in exasperation.

Valerie looked quickly at Sam—it seemed like she'd be in line for awhile. She smiled to herself and walked toward Danny.

"Hi," she said. Danny and Tucker looked up as she approached. They gave her a look of alarm then scrambled quickly to remove whatever it was they were studying from the table.

"H-hi," Danny said quickly as Tucker finished folding up the map.

"What are you boys up to?" Valerie asked warily, as she put one hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows.

"N-nothing really," Danny stuttered.

"Yeah," Tucker said as he laughed nervously. "Absolutely nothing. We were doing nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Zero..."

Danny hit Tucker in the stomach. "Okay, you can shut it off now," he hissed.

"Squat and naught," Tucker finished.

Valerie crossed her arms over her chest as she gave Tucker a look of amusement. "You should try that in alphabetical order next time," she teased. Tucker furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"So," Danny said as he took a deep breath. "Did you need something?"

Valerie resisted the urge to completely swoon as she looked into Danny's sweet baby blue eyes. "No," she answered, then looked down shyly. "I just saw you over here, and I haven't talked to you in awhile, and…"

Suddenly, something strange happened, something so wholly and completely embarrassing, that Valerie felt like she was going to drop dead from embarrassment right there on the lunch room floor.

It was a burp or a hiccup or something. What ever it was, it wafted from her mouth in a big puff of bluish red mist. It must have smelled horrible, because it tasted completely rancid, kind of ectoplasmish—and she wasn't sure she knew how ectoplasm tasted, but it was nasty.

She put her hand up over her mouth in shock and looked at Danny and Tucker who were both looking back at her with wide startled eyes. Danny's mouth was open slightly. He blinked. Valerie felt her cheeks begin to burn fiercely.

"Excuse me," she said then bit her lip as she watched the two boys for any sign of disgust.

Danny looked at her fearfully for a moment, then pointed at the door, as he said, "I-I have to, um…you know, go. So, um, yeah!" He jumped from the table, and took off running out of the lunch room. Valerie, feeling mortified, turned her stunned gaze to Tucker, who quickly found an excuse for Danny's hasty departure—one his friend would later want to kill him for.

"He's got diarrhea," he said in a confiding tone, as he shook his head. "It's a shame. Weak stomach, you know?"

Valerie blinked at Tucker for a moment in complete shock, not knowing how to respond, then said, "Uh, well tell him I, um, have to go."

"Oh, you too," Tucker asked sympathetically

"No!" Valerie said defensively, feeling embarrassed that Tucker would even suspect something like that.

"Oh, okay," Tucker replied cheerfully, then waved as he watched her leave. Sam came walking up a second later. She put the food she was carrying down, and looked after Valerie, who was quickly making her way back to her own table.

Sam looked at Valerie a moment longer, then turned to Tucker. "What was that about?" she asked.

Tucker waggled his eyebrows at Sam. "She came over to say hi," he answered.

"Uh, okay," Sam said then looked around. "Where's Danny?"

"Ghost," Tucker said absently then looked at Sam and blinked. "Valerie's ghost detector isn't going off, but…."

"But?" Sam asked.

Tucker shook his head. "It must have been my imagination. I thought…I saw something like Danny's ghost sense, coming from Valerie."

Sam shook her head. "Yeah, you're definitely imagining things," she said, and was about to say something more when Danny burst into the lunch room, in ghost form naturally, chasing a large green blob of a ghost.

"Come back here and fight like a…a big formless thing!" Danny yelled as the people in the lunch room screamed and scattered.

"We need to write him some new lines," Tucker said as they watched him fly by. Sam snorted and shook her head.

* * *

Valerie was almost back at her table when the ghost kid flew into the lunch room. She looked up at him as he flew by and belched again. It was so disgusting. What was wrong with her?

"Well," she said in resignation, "guess that settles it. My suit is fried; even the ghost detector isn't working." She growled in frustration and disgust as she watched the ghost kid and the creature he was chasing crash into one of the food carts. She wished she could do something to stop them from trashing the cafeteria.

She looked around thoughtfully. Maybe the ghost detector was the only thing broken; maybe the suit would still work. She ran from the cafeteria and into the janitorial closet. She took a deep breath and tried to activate the suit.

Usually, her ghost hunting suit wrapped around her, this time it started as bluish rings at her waist. The rings separated, one moving down her body, the other up and over her head.

"What the heck is going on?" she gasped as she looked at her hands. She blinked in shock. There she was, in her ghost hunting suit, except the colors had changed to white and yellow, almost gold. It was as though the colors were inverted. Was it because the suit was broken?

Valerie was worried. Something just didn't seem right. She ran her hands along her mask—it seemed okay. She stepped back to lean against the wall, feeling stunned, and…fell right through it!

"What the….?" she squeaked, as she hit blue tile floor. She looked at the wall she had fallen through in shock. The smell of sweat and dirty socks filled her senses. She could hear water running and the echo of laughter, male laughter. She stood and turned around. She knew where she was instantly, even though she'd never been there before.

"Oh no!" she gasped to herself. "The boys' locker room!" She stood and ran, straight into the wall she'd just fallen through and ended up on her butt again.

"Oh man!" Valerie cried as she heard footsteps approaching. She closed her eyes tight, willing herself invisible. She opened one eye and watched a boy with only a towel around his waist walk by. She blinked in shock as he stood at his locker just a few feet away and…

And she was up on her feet running out the locker room in terror. She just had an eyeful of something she never wanted to see again. She shuddered and looked around frantically. She checked her suit then screamed in terror. Her body was missing!

What was going on? Had she scared herself out of her body? Had she died of shock right there on the boys' locker room floor? Being caught dead in the boys' locker room, for some reason, was so much more mortifying than being caught alive in it.

She ran back to the broom closet and took several deep breaths. "Okay, Val," she said to herself. "Get a grip. You're going to be fine. You're hallucinating." Yeah, that was it! She was hallucinating. She was probably still out cold in the alley because of her suit malfunction. Even though the thought made sense, she wasn't any less worried. She was terrified, and now she'd lost her body!

"Okay, Val," she said to herself. "Just breathe. Breathe. Think about your arms and legs reappearing. Think about your suit retracting. Think about being normal."

She saw an intense blue light flash though her eyelids, and she slowly opened her eyes. She looked at her arms, her everyday normal arms, and sighed in relief. She almost sagged against the wall again, but pulled herself up short. She didn't want a repeat of that nightmare. Everything was back to normal, or so it seemed.

"I need to talk to Mr. Masters," she said to herself. "He can probably fix this." She checked herself over one more time then walked out of the closet.

"Valerie!" Star screeched, as she ran toward her from down the hall. "Where were you? I was terrified. I thought a ghost got you or something."

Valerie laughed. "No ghost is going to be getting me!" she said in a matter of fact tone. "If anyone is going to be got, it's going to be the ghost, by me."

"Yeah, well," Star said as she looked Valerie over, "speaking of ghosts, the lunch room is totally trashed."

"Figures," Valerie growled. "Stupid ghosts."

"You know," Star said, flipping her hair over her shoulders, "we never had ghosts in middle school. High school has turned out to be really weird."

"You can say that again," Valerie agreed.

* * *

"Dude!" Tucker said as Danny transformed back into his human self and handed Tucker the thermos. "That was so cool! You should have seen the splat you made when that ghost threw you into the mashed potatoes!"

"Oh yeah," Danny replied dryly. "It was a real smash."

"Ha! Ha!" Tucker fake-laughed.

Sam only smiled as she shook her head. "That was sloppy, Danny."

"Sloppy Joes," Tucker laughed. Sam gave him an exasperated look and Danny rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you're real funny, Tuck," he said, frowning at his two smiling friends…then they all burst into laughter.

They made their way out of the cafeteria, narrowly missing an angry Lancer looking for anyone on which to dole out punishment for the destruction of the cafeteria.

"Tuck," Danny said as he pulled his friend back by the elbow and let Sam walk ahead. "Did you notice that thing with Valerie earlier?"

"Yeah," Tuck answered. "I told her you had to run off because you have diarrhea."

"What?" Danny shrieked as Tucker burst out laughing.

"You should have seen the look of disgust on her face," Tucker continued. "Dude, it was classic!"

"You are so dead, Tuck," Danny growled.

Sam stopped and waited for them to catch up, then asked, "What are you two dorks fighting about?"

"Valerie," Tucker answered. Sam raised her eyebrows and Danny shook his head and gave Tucker and evil look.

"Valerie," Sam said thoughtfully. "Hmm, Valerie, Valerie. Is that the same Valerie who is trying to _kill_ you?" Her eyes widened with emphasis.

"Yup, that's the one," Tucker answered.

Danny shook his head in exasperation. "No," he said. "Seriously, Tuck, did you notice something different about her today?"

"New stinky perfume, maybe?" Sam asked. Danny sent her an annoyed look and she smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, I noticed it," Tucker replied as he adjusted his glasses. "What do you think it was?"

"It looked like a ghost sense," Danny said. "Mine went off at the exact same time."

"Wait," Sam said. "Are you trying to say that Valerie is now half ghost or something? That she's developed a ghost sense?"

"I don't know," Danny answered. "It looked like a ghost sense to me."

"Well, that would be ironic," Sam said, then frowned at the worried look on Danny's face.

"Irony," Tucker said in an almost automated tone. "Characterized by often poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is."

He paused. "Oh man, I thought that went away!" he complained.

"Guess not," Sam said in an emotionless tone.

Tucker frowned. "It's both your fault for leaving me attached to that machine for so long!" he growled half-angrily.

"Serves you right," Danny said indignantly.

"Be nice or I'll tell Sam you have diarrhea, too!" Tucker replied, then burst out laughing.

"Oh, you are going to get it," Danny threatened as Tucker took off in the opposite direction to his next class.

Sam shook her head as she watched the techno-geek go. "We've got to stop letting him eat sugar," she said. Danny smiled at Sam.

He put his arm around her. "But, Honey," he said in a high pitched voice, "don't you think our son is just hilarious?"

"Oh yeah," Sam said as she pulled away from Danny and looked away to hide the fact that she was blushing. "He's a riot, just like his dad." Danny smiled happily.

* * *

The minute school was out, Valerie headed toward the alley where her suit had malfunctioned. She was hoping she'd be able to find some sort of clue as to what happened to her.

She had discovered in Study Hall that she could make both her hands disappear at will, and thought maybe the malfunction had activated some new feature in her suit. She really couldn't wait to start testing it out.

Almost half-way to the alley, her cell phone rang. She sighed heavily, knowing it was her father calling.

"Valerie!" he said as she answered the phone. "You are grounded, remember? Get your butt home now, missy!"

"Okay, Daddy," she answered. "I'm on my way." She wished she could fly; if she wasn't worried about taking too much time to get home, she would have tested out her suit to see if her sled still worked.

She looked in the direction of the alley and sighed deeply. It was likely she wouldn't find anything there, so it wasn't worth getting into more trouble for. She started running home, intent on calling Mr. Masters once she got there. Even if he had no clue, he'd probably be able to figure out what happened, and maybe even fix it.

Valerie smiled as she ran home, confident that Mr. Masters could fix all her problems. Truly, she was thankful every single day that she had come to his attention, and that he was willing to help her in the fight against the ghosts of Amity Park.

She had a feeling that the new features on her suit would help her eliminate all the ghosts with no problem, especially that wretched ghost kid. She couldn't wait to master the suit's changes, and meet up with him again! This time, he was going down!

* * *

**A/N – In case you wanted to know how I arrived at yellow (or gold), for Valerie's contrast color, I did a small bit of research and found that when you combine green light and red light you get yellow. Ha, funny, huh? No, seriously. So that's why I decided to give Valerie a gold ectoplasmic blast, plus it makes her unique.**

**And sorry these chapters have been short. Errol and Michie REALLY want me to write this story and won't let me work on Disclosures until I do something here, so I'm kinda being held hostage with this one.**

**And see you had both one sided DxV and a little tiny moment of DxS, because no DP story is complete without Sam blushing over Danny. -shrug-**


	3. Chapter 3

**Nom de Plume deserves a huge amount of credit for beta-reading this chapter!**

Chapter Three

Valerie called her father the moment she got home from school, just to assure him that she was following orders. It was better that he didn't have to call her. Her father was strict, but she knew if she followed the rules, she could bend them as well; and she was hoping that he would shorten the length of her grounding based on good behavior.

She itched to run to her room and explore the new features on her ghost hunting suit, but forced herself to do her homework and complete extra chores instead. Her father called her three times to check on her. She sighed in exasperation, wishing he would trust her just a little bit more.

It was a quarter of five when Valerie finished her chores, which left her about thirty minutes to spend checking out her suit before her father came home. She ran to her room, locked the door, then activated her suit.

She watched in the mirror as the bluish rings engulfed her, changing her into her suit. She frowned when the transformation was complete. Something seemed off. She walked to the mirror and examined her face closely. Her eyes were glowing a strange sort of green. She blinked a few times. This wasn't right!

The only time she'd seen green glowing eyes were on ghosts—and she could think of one hated creature specifically whose eyes the color reminded her of. She shivered as she stepped away from the mirror. An odd feeling in her gut was telling her that something was very wrong, and she needed to be careful. She sat on her bed and took several deep breaths, then felt herself sinking.

"What the…" she started as she caught herself. She stood in dismay. How could she be sinking through her bed? Why was she disappearing? What was going on? She looked down at her feet, then at her hands in wonderment. Could it be that she was…a ghost?

"No way!" she said out loud as she shook her head violently. It wasn't possible. She couldn't be a ghost. She was alive. If the accident with the suit had killed her, she'd be witnessing her funeral, instead of sitting at home because she was grounded.

She considered calling Mr. Masters…but if she used the phone to call anyone but her father, her grounding would be extended; there was no way she could hide a long-distance call to Wisconsin, even if she called collect. Her father would find out somehow; he always did.

"Valerie," her father called. "I'm home."

"Oh no!" Valerie said, hoping that she could completely change out of her suit before her father entered the room.

"Val? Are you in there?" her father asked as he put the hand on the door.

"Yeah, Daddy," she called. "I'm just changing. Hold on a sec."

* * *

"Valerie," Damon said as he sat with her at the dinner table, watching her pick at her food. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Valerie answered as she pulled herself out of her worried thoughts. "I was just thinking about…um…my math test."

"Really?" Damon asked, knowing it had to be something else, but waiting patiently for his daughter to confide in him.

"Yeah," Valerie replied. "You know how polynomials are." She laughed a little then looked down at her food, which she had barely touched.

"What else is bothering you?" Damon pressed.

"Is there anyway I can get a suspended sentence?" Valerie asked as she looked up at her father hopefully.

Damon looked at her daughter and sighed as he sat back in his chair. "So this is what your contrite and solemn act is about?" he questioned. Valerie smiled weakly and he shook his head.

"Please, Daddy," Valerie begged. "I need to get out of the house. I can't stay cooped up in here!"

"You mean you can't stand knowing that Danny Phantom is out there wreaking havoc and you can't do anything about it," Damon stated bluntly. Valerie looked at her father in dismay. She was so busted.

"I don't like this ghost hunting business of yours, Valerie. We've been over this time and time again. It's dangerous. Don't you think I've lost enough? Why do I have to make me constantly worried about losing you?"

"You don't have to worry about me, Daddy," Valerie said softly. "I'm really good at hunting ghosts, and I really like it."

"And why were you late yesterday?" Damon asked.

Valerie hung her head. "Because I had an accident," she said, but looked up. "But I'm fine. It just made me a little late."

"I see," Damon told his daughter. "I want this ghost hunting business to stop. Let the professionals take care of the problem."

"The professionals?" Valerie asked, wondering who her father was talking about.

"The Fentons," Damon elaborated. "Let them handle the ghosts; you focus on being a teenager."

Valerie sighed heavily as she picked up her plate and put it in the sink. She wished her father would understand. She liked hunting ghosts; it made her happy—and right now, not much made her happy.

"Since I can't do anything," Valerie told her father bitterly, "I'm going to go to bed early. There's no point in staying up." She hoped her father would bend—feel sorry for her, give her a break—but he wasn't going to budge, so she went to bed feeling irritated and sad.

* * *

Something cool and hard was pressing against Valerie's face. She yawned and turned her head and opened her eyes. She looked in confusion at the blank white wall her nose was pressed against. She lifted her hands and pressed them against the cool surface and pressed away from it. It moved! No wait, the wall didn't move. She moved.

"Whoa!" Valerie cried as she realized she was floating. She grasped at the ceiling to steady herself, then it hit her that she wasn't going to fall, and she could control her movements. She smiled slightly as she drifted back down to her bed.

"Okay," she said to herself as she sat up. "This is really freaky."

She stood and floated around the room, then bit her lip as she looked out the window then at her alarm clock. It was two a.m. She could take a little flight around the neighborhood and her father would have no clue she had left.

Valerie took a very deep breath, then imagined changing into her ghost suit. The two glowing rings enveloped her again and she transformed. She was very scared, but also thought it was extremely cool. She imagined herself floating and lifted off the ground. She wiggled her feet but realized they'd been replaced by a ghostly tail, just like in her nightmares, and wanted to panic.

"Okay," she whispered to herself as her stomach began doing flips. "So I seem to be a ghost, but I know I'm not. We need to figure out what's going on." She looked out the window again, then floated forward and phased through the wall. She almost started laughing as she went.

"Now," she said as she gathered herself together. "Let's see how fast I can move." She flew straight up as fast as she could then stopped and looked down at the city lights.

"This," she said as she floated, "is so cool!" She took off flying again and ended up at the park, dodging in and out of the trees as she pressed her self to fly faster and faster.

Valerie stopped flying once she reached Casper High. She floated into the school and looked around thoughtfully, then flew out. She flew up to the flag pole then down and around the football field, reveling in the feeling of flight.

She flew upward again, then stopped once she was high enough to see across Amity Park. She could see, off in the distance, the Ops Center array of Fenton Works. She paused in thought then flew back down toward the ground.

Valerie only had one big worry, and that was weapons. She flew back around the school a few times then sat on the bleachers at the football field to think. She looked at her white-gloved hands, admiring the strange ghostly glow.

Her suit had always had a strange, eerie glow about it—even her first one—so she'd never given it much thought; but as she looked at her hands, she realized this was the same strange glowing aura that clung to the ghost kid.

A sense of panic began to invade her mind again and she forced herself to take several deep breaths. She told herself that if she was breathing, she couldn't be a ghost, and did ghosts really get scared like she was? Did ghosts feel nauseous? She didn't believe they did.

Ghosts were evil. She didn't feel evil. She had no evil urges. No, she reasoned, she couldn't be a ghost. There had to be some other explanation for her powers. She knew her new abilities had been caused by her suit's malfunction, but she didn't know how. She needed to talk to Mr. Masters—but, of course, she wouldn't be able to contact him until her two weeks were up…not without risking a permanent grounding.

Valerie continued to look at her hands. The ghost kid could shoot some sort of green blast from his, which made her wonder if she could do the same. Her ghost hunting would become much more convenient if she could; her weapons would always be at her finger tips, dependent more on her reflexes than the time it took to arm each gun.

She flexed her fingers and wondered how the ghost kid did it. How did he use his powers? So far everything she'd been able to do was by thought, so if she had any type of weapon in her hands, it must be manipulated by thought too. She bit her lip and stared hard at her hands, trying to imagine power filling them…and then it happened.

It started like sparks at the tips of her finger tips, then a gold light radiating around her hand and turning into a golden orb in her palm.

"Wow," she said shakily as the flickering golden orb twirled in her hand. "This is so cool!" she said to herself then smiled as she threw the orb up into the air and watched it float for a minute. Then an idea hit her. She aimed her finger like a gun, and then shot at the orb. She was slightly surprised when a gold beam shot from her finger tip. She completely missed hitting the orb which dissipated like a popping soap bubble before it hit the ground. She growled and formed another orb, threw it up into the air, shot, and missed again.

Valerie sat for several hours, forming golden glowing orbs then shooting them into the sky; her aim was still off, and she was determined to get it right. If she had been more aware, she would have noticed someone watching her at a safe, undetectable distance. From the top of the school, he watched as she learned how to use her newfound powers, a wistful smile on his face.

* * *

Danny had just finished chasing down the Box Ghost, and was on his way back home to hopefully get some sleep, when he caught a flash of white streaking across the sky from the corner of his eye. He followed the streak of white, thinking it was just another ghost he needed to catch before finally heading back to bed, and then realized it was Valerie.

He stayed far enough away that he could watch her and not trip her ghost sense. He shook his head in amazement. It was strange to think that Valerie had a ghost sense—that she was just like him, half ghost. He was excited—there was so much he could teach her about her powers; she wouldn't have to learn on her own, he could help her—but his joy quickly faded as he realized that it wasn't likely that she would accept his help, and that she had just become that much more dangerous to him.

The first sign of dawn began creeping across the sky, and Danny shook himself out of the trance he had fallen into as he watched Valerie familiarize herself with her new abilities. He sighed in dismay; he was probably going to end up in detention for falling asleep in Lancer's class. He smiled slightly, looked at Valerie one more time, then made his way home.

Danny looked at his alarm clock and sighed as he transformed back to his human self. He had an hour of sleep left, and he knew it wasn't going to be enough. He considered telling his parents that he was sick and staying home for the day, but he really needed to find a way to approach Valerie before she turned to Vlad for help.

"Oh man," Danny groaned as he covered his face with his hand and laid back in his bed. Valerie would be Vlad's dream come true; a half ghost who would willingly join him. She would be Danny's worst nightmare. If he couldn't convince her to drop her vendetta against him, and Vlad got a hold of her…well, then life as he knew it was as good as over.

* * *

Valerie stifled a yawn as she sat in her first class, trying desperately not to fall to sleep. Star kept kicking her desk to jostle her awake.

"What's wrong with you?" Star said as the bell rang and Valerie tiredly gathered her books together.

"I couldn't sleep last night," Valerie answered. "I'm thinking of going to the nurse and going home."

"Don't you have to work tonight?" Star asked. "I mean, I think you should quit your job and everything, but…" Valerie yawned again and Star sighed.

"I'm really sorry," Valerie apologized.

Star shook her head. "So were you able to talk your father into lightening your sentence?"

"No," Valerie said petulantly. "He's sticking to his guns; he thinks that ghost hunting is too dangerous. I don't see how grounding me for two weeks is going to change things, but I guess it makes him feel better." She shrugged her shoulders, and then burped.

"Gross!" Star said as she covered her mouth. "What was that?" Valerie gave her friend a wide-eyed look.

"I'll tell you at lunch," she said quickly. "But I have to go now." She nearly dropped her books as she took off down the hall frantically looking for a place to transform. She ran into Danny and they both burped at the same time. Valerie looked at him with wide eyes and then he laughed nervously and grabbed her arm.

"We need to talk," he said.

Valerie ripped her arm away as she continued to walk. "Get your hands off of me!" she told him irately. "I don't have time to stand and talk to you."

"Valerie! Wait!" Danny called as he followed her. He tried to catch her again, but she was gone. He looked around for Sam and Tucker, but they were probably in their respective classes. He growled in frustration then ducked into the boys' bathroom, where he transformed, then took off in search of Valerie and the ghost who had tripped their ghost sense.

"Her ghost sense," Danny said to himself and shook his head in amazement before flying out of the bathroom.

* * *

"Hold still, you filthy ghost!" Valerie yelled as she chased a large snake like creature across the sky. The creature dodged each of her blasts. Valerie was tired, frustrated and in a very bad mood when Danny arrived.

"Oh no!" Valerie yelled as she noticed his presence. "Can't you, like, just go back to wherever you came from?" she yelled at him. Then dodged out of the way as the snake ghost turned on her and tried to bite her.

"Don't get distracted," Danny yelled as he shot a few blasts at the ghost.

"Just go away, and I won't!" Valerie growled. She quickly shot a blast at the snake, shooting it in the face and sending it spiraling out of control, then shot a blast at Danny.

"Whoa!" Danny yelled. "Why are you shooting at me?"

"Because as soon as I'm done with this stupid snake," Valerie answered, "you're going down, ghost kid!"

"Great," Danny sighed then watched as Valerie dispatched the snake. When she was finished she turned on Danny.

"Get ready to get your butt kicked!" Valerie told him. She shot without warning, causing Danny, whose guard was completely down, to scramble out of the way.

"Wait!" Danny yelled angrily. "I don't want to hurt you!"

"What makes you think you can?" Valerie growled at him as brandished her glowing hands. "From the way I see things, we're on equal footing now."

"Please," Danny said as he shielded himself while Valerie blasted him repeatedly. "Just talk to me. I can help you! There's so much I can teach you! So much I need to tell you."

Valerie paused and looked at Danny and disbelief. "Why would you want to do that?" she asked.

"Because I've been where you are now. I know what it's like. I can help," Danny told her calmly.

"No," Valerie told him sharply. "For one thing I don't trust you, and for another, I need to get back to class." She started to fly away and Danny stopped her.

"Meet me tonight," he said. "Here. Midnight."

Valerie sighed tiredly, she hoped to be in bed sleeping peacefully by midnight. "Why should I trust you?" she asked.

"I can't give you a reason," Danny said quickly. "Please. Just meet me here. Midnight."

"Fine," Valerie said. "It's a date." Danny grinned and Valerie felt her cheeks sting in embarrassment as she turned to fly away.

"Don't get all excited, ghost, I didn't mean that kind of date," she threw over her shoulder. Danny chuckled to himself as he watched her go, then returned to classes himself.

* * *

"You're going to what?" Sam asked in outrage as Danny sat with her and Tucker at the lunch table.

"Dude," Tucker whispered. "I don't think telling Val that you're, you know, you is a very bright idea."

Danny sighed heavily. "What should I do then? Let her fall in to Vlad's hands? I can just see him adopting Valerie and making my life hell."

"That would be so cool," Tucker said enthusiastically. Danny gave him an incredulous look and Tucker blinked. "Not the part about making your life a living hell."

"What is wrong with you?" Sam asked as she blinked at Tucker. "Were you dropped on your head too many times as a baby?"

"No," Tucker said indignantly. "It would just be cool for Val, because she'd have money again, and then maybe she wouldn't be so angry at Danny."

"Riiiight," Sam said then looked at Danny. "I think Valerie gaining ghost powers is bad, no matter how you look at it."

"How would she have got them, anyway?" Tucker asked. "I mean both you and Vlad were exposed to portals, right? How would she be exposed to one?"

"That's what I want to find out," Danny started, then sighed in frustration.

"Do you want us to be there with you?" Sam asked as she picked at her salad. "I mean in case you need back up."

Danny shook his head. "I don't want to overwhelm her."

"Then don't tell her," Tucker advised. "I mean, it's going to freak her out pretty bad."

"She might try to kill you," Sam added.

"She's already trying to kill me," Danny stated.

Tucker tapped his fingers on the table a moment. "We could, like, hide," he suggested. "That way if she flips out, we can, you know, help."

Danny shook his head. "I think it's better if I just do this on my own," he told them. Sam and Tucker looked at each other sadly.

"But," Danny continued, "I'd appreciate it if the two of you stayed on alert, so I can call you in case I need you."

"Of course," Tucker said happily as he began eating his lunch.

"We'll always be there for you when you need us," Sam added. She looked over at Valerie who was talking quietly to Star, who looked extremely bewildered by whatever Valerie was telling her.

Sam sighed, looked at Danny who was now looking down at his lunch tiredly, then at Tucker who was now absorbed in his PDA.

"You know, Danny," Sam began, "I think you are completely insane."

Danny looked up and smiled disarmingly at Sam. "Thanks," he told her. She rolled her eyes and laughed, then looked again at Valerie and Star. Valerie's posture indicated that she might be crying, Star was patting her back in comfort, and Paulina was walking toward the two girls, with a sadistic light gleaming in her eyes. Sam fought with herself for a moment, looked at Danny quickly, then back at Paulina.

"I'll be right back," Sam said as she grabbed her lunch tray. "I'm just going to throw this in the trash." Both Danny and Tucker looked at her in confusion as she moved toward Paulina, reaching the popular girl just as she stopped in front of Valerie and Star, and opened her mouth to say something.

Sam feigned a trip over her boots and fell toward Paulina, showering her with salad and oil and vinegar salad dressing.

"Get away from me, you loser!" Paulina screeched as she frantically pushed Sam away from her, and then began to bat the salad from her shirt. "My clothes are ruined!"

"Oops!" Sam said in mock innocence. "I'm so sorry, Paulina!"

Paulina glared at Sam a moment then said something about clumsy loser freaks, and the need to change her clothes to rid herself of the reeking toxic waste Sam had dumped on her.

"Bye!" Sam said cheerfully as she waved at Paulina, then looked at Valerie who was watching her with wide eyes. Sam smiled and raised her eyebrows as she made her way back to Danny and Tucker who were in full laughter at her salad-dumping antics.

"What was that about?" Tucker asked as Sam sat down.

"Nothing," Sam answered. "I just threw my salad in the trash." She smiled happily to herself and Tucker cracked up laughing.

"Thanks," Danny mouthed to Sam, as Tucker looked back down at his PDA. Sam only shrugged her shoulders, then looked at Valerie who was watching Sam thoughtfully.

* * *

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" Star asked as she sat down beside Valerie. "Why are you so tired? Your eyes look like you're packed and ready to go on vacation."

"Gee thanks," Valerie said tiredly as she pressed her hands to her eyes.

"You really look bad," Star continued. "What's going on?"

Valerie took a deep breath and shook her head. She wondered if she should trust Star with her secret. She needed to talk to someone, though, and Star had been very good about keeping her ghost hunting hobby a secret.

"Remember how I told you I had an accident with my suit the other day?" Valerie asked.

Star nodded. "And remember how I told you to, like, completely dump the ghost hunting gig?"

Valerie smiled slightly. "Well," she began. "The accident did something to me. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm different."

"Different how?" Star asked worriedly as she moved away from Valerie slightly.

Valerie rolled her eyes at Star. "I don't know. I have these new powers. I mean it's like, I don't know, like I'm a ghost or something." She repressed a shudder of horror and pushed back the feeling of panic which had been making itself comfortable in the pit of her stomach since she had discovered how ghost-like she had become.

"What?" Star asked as she looked at Valerie in confusion. "What does that mean? I don't think someone can be like part ghost or whatever. That's really freaky."

Valerie smiled at Star's reaction. "I don't know what it means, but I can like do things. I can fly and…"

"Wait," Star said as she held up her hand. "You can fly? Like Phantom?" Valerie nodded her head and Star opened her mouth in amazement as Valerie detailed the rest of her powers.

Star wrinkled her forehead in bewilderment. "So you're tired because your suit has given you new abilities? Do they, like, drain your energy or something? Because that would totally stink."

"No," Valerie answered. "I was just up until five this morning, trying to figure out everything I can do."

"Oh," Star replied, then looked confused again.

"And this morning I had a confrontation with the ghost kid again," Valerie continued. "He seems to know what happened to me or something, and wants to meet tonight."

Star grinned saucily. "So you have a date with Phantom?"

"No!" Valerie denied. "Not like that. Gross."

"But he's so…smexy," Star gushed.

"Smexy?" Valerie asked in disbelief, then laughed.

"Very smexy," Star admitted.

"That is gross," Valerie told her and shuddered. "He's a ghost and he's evil. He needs to be destroyed, and you're a fan girl like Paulina!"

Star smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't say I wanted to be friends with him, Val," she said in a suggestive tone.

"You're sick in the head," Valerie laughed.

"So," Star said as soon as their laughter subsided. "You have ghostish powers like the ghost boy…I mean, how do you feel about that?"

"I don't know," Valerie replied as she slumped forward tiredly. "The truth is, Star, I'm really scared; and if I call Mr. Masters for help before my two weeks are up, my dad will kill me."

"You can, like, use my cell phone to call him if you want," Star offered as she reached forward and patted Valerie's shoulder comfortingly. "Your dad would never find out."

"I only have his phone number at home," Valerie sighed.

"Well, bring it tomorrow and you can call him," Star told her friend, then looked up. "Uh-oh, the shark has detected blood in the water."

"What?" Valerie asked as she looked up to see Paulina sashaying toward them, wearing a very pleased and cruel grin on her pretty face. Valerie sighed—the last thing she needed today were some of Paulina's rude remarks. Usually she could hold her own against the popular girl, but today she was on the edge and couldn't guarantee she wouldn't try to rip some of Paulina's perfect skin from her oh so lovely face.

Both girls looked up at Paulina and braced themselves for her snide remark. Paulina smiled cruelly, then suddenly was covered with salad. Valerie looked at Sam in surprise as the Goth girl apologized for her clumsiness, then smiled at Valerie as she made her way back to her own table and sat across from Danny.

"That was weird," Star said.

"I think she knows something," Valerie said thoughtfully.

"Who?" Star asked. "Paulina? She's as dumb as a brick, how would she know anything?"

"No," Valerie laughed. "Sam. I think she knows something." She looked over at the girl in question who was now sitting back at her table. Sam returned her glance. Valerie was positive she knew—but then, she'd suspected for a long time that Sam had some kind of freaky relationship going on with the ghost kid.

"I guess I can ask him tonight," Valerie half said to herself as she turned her attention back to Star.

"You're actually going to meet with him?" Star asked. Valerie nodded her head and Star sat silently for a moment, apparently wrestling with a heavy thought—which was not a common occurrence for Star, who generally flitted along the surface of life rather than trying to think too hard.

"Do you, like, want me to go with you?" Star asked hesitantly. "I mean, as back up or something?"

Valerie smiled and shook her head. "You know, you really are a good friend, Star. I don't know what I'd do without you…but no. I think I need to do this on my own." Star let out a sigh of relief, then nodded her head in agreement.

"I won't trust him, though," Valerie said. "So I should be fine." She looked toward Sam, Danny and Tucker again, only to find they'd left. She shook her head, then yawned tiredly.

"I think you should go home and get some sleep," Star began. "I mean, especially if you don't want to be too tired to fight Phantom tonight."

Valerie agreed with Star. She had been fighting with her new powers off and on all day, trying to keep herself visible and from sinking through chairs, floors, desks and tables—so she went home, called in sick for work and waited impatiently for midnight.

* * *

**Much thanks to all my lovely reviewers on the last two chapters. Your kindness is appreciated greatly; as a reward, I've made a semi-long chapter! Whoo hoo!**

**This meager writer humbly submits a request for reviews from her mighty readers. Thank you.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Please, please forgive me for taking so long to update. I'm updating this chapter before my beta looks at it because I don't know when she can get to it, and I know I've taken too long to update. I hope she's not too upset with me….and I hope you're not either. I am always very dedicated to any story I write, but I've been slightly burnt out lately. **

Chapter Four

Sam and Tucker watched silently as Danny made plans for his meeting with Valerie. They looked at each other worriedly as he went through pictures, looking for ways to prove to Valerie that he was a good guy, on her side, as if pictures would change everything. Tucker had pointed out that pictures, in the long run were meaningless, but Danny ignored him.

"Danny?" Sam asked as she pulled her knees up into her chest and watched him leafing through the photographs.

"Sam?" he returned as he looked at her questioningly.

"What if you can't talk her into understanding?" she asked. "What if she doesn't accept that you have ghost powers? What if she just doesn't understand the concept? What if she runs and tells everyone your secret? Don't you care about how much your risking?"

Danny took a deep breath and looked at Tucker, who sat with the same questions in his eyes. He looked at the photos spread out on his bed. He refused to believe there was any other option but for Valerie to accept him, why wouldn't she?

"I think it's worth the risk," he finally said.

"I think you're foolish," Sam replied bitterly and Danny gave her a look of exasperation.

"Why?" he asked after several long moments of silence. "Why are you so sure that this risk is foolish Sam?" Danny turned to Tucker when Sam's expression closed and she looked away from his probing gaze.

"Hey don't look at me," Tucker said as he held up his hands and shook his head. "It's your head on the platter, not mine." Danny blinked at Tucker then turned back to Sam who sat looking very pensive and slightly upset.

"Sam," Danny said sadly. She took a deep breath then looked Danny in the eyes.

"Danny," she began. "We have no evidence to believe that she's going to accept your ghost half. All we have to go on are her actions up until now, which have been pretty vengeful and unforgiving."

"But we also know how nice she really is, and she likes my human half…" Danny began but Sam shook her head.

"And she can turn on your human half too." Sam pointed out. "I think her hatred for your ghost side far outweighs any affection she has for you as a human." Danny looked down at the pictures. He flipped through a few of them, finally sighing and letting them slip back down to the bed.

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, or trying to tell you what to do," Sam continued, she sounded frightened, though it was obvious she was trying to hide it. "I'm just trying to make you think a little before you rush off and tell her everything. I don't want to see you hurt."

Danny smiled wryly at Sam. "I know you care," he started, then paused as he began gathering the photos together and putting them back in the box by his knee. "But I do have to do what I feel is best, and if Vlad finds out about her new powers before I have a chance to talk to her, it will be impossible to make her understand…"

Sam shook her head as she climbed off the chest she was sitting on. "You know Danny," she began. "I'm willing to back you up no matter what you decide, but I hate seeing you make mistakes."

"Just trust me," Danny told her as he watched her walk to the door. "Can't you trust me Sam?"

She smiled at him sadly as she opened the door then looked at Tucker. "Of course I can trust you, Danny," she said softly as she settled her lavender eyes back on his face. "I always have." She shut the door behind her and Danny looked at Tucker.

Tucker was shaking his head sadly, as he look at the now closed door. He fiddled with his hat a moment the looked at Danny.

"You know Sam has a point."

Danny looked tiredly at Tucker. "Sam always has a point."

"I just you know think that you should consider the situation without letting your hormones take over," Tucker told Danny who blushed a nice shade of red.

"My hormones aren't involved at all!" Danny denied. "This isn't about whether or not I like Valerie."

"You say that," Tucker said then shook his head. "But come on Danny you can't deny it hasn't crossed your mind. It has mine."

Danny rolled his eyes as he put the lid on the box of photographs and stashed it under his bed. He looked back up at Tucker and considered his friend thoughtfully for a moment.

"I'm not going to deny it," he finally admitted. "Yeah! I've thought about it! I'm attracted to her. I mean think about how well she can understand! She now has ghost powers too. I wouldn't have to worry about her. Valerie can take care of herself."

"As opposed to someone like…umm…Sam?" Tucker asked half teasingly.

"Well..yeah," Danny answered then blushed again. "What I mean is…" he trailed off unable to put what he was feeling into words. He liked the fact that he wasn't alone in being some freaky ghost kid. He liked the thought of having an ally, someone to take some of the work off of him, someone who could fight along his side who he didn't have to worry about. He couldn't count how many times he'd saved Sam and Tucker, and he lived in terror that one of these times, he would be too late, and he'd lose one of the two most important people in the world to him.

Danny thought for a moment then shook his head in confusion. "Why should it matter if it is hormones anyway?" he asked. "It's my life I'm putting on the line, not yours and Sam's. Why should it matter?"

Tucker shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know maybe cause we care about you? Maybe Sam feels responsible and protective of you."

"Fine," Danny said. "She'll get over it, I know how Sam is. What about you? What's your objection?"

Tucker smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I don't want things to change. I like the way things are, just you, Sam, me, and occasionally Jazz. We're Team Phantom. I don't want to see that slip away."

"Stupid reasoning," Danny told the Techno Geek who shrugged.

"Maybe you won't need us anymore."

Danny shook his head and laughed. "I'll always need you guys," he said. "You're my best friends."

Tucker smiled slightly then stood and patted himself down, making sure he had all his tech gadgets in place. Danny laughed in amusement as his techno geek friend looked alarmed for a moment then found his PDA sitting on the edge of Danny's dresser, picking it up with a look of sheer relief.

"So," Tucker said as he put his PDA comfortably in his pocket, patted it lovingly then turned to Danny. "Are you sure you don't want us there?"

Danny nodded his head. "I'm sure," he said. "I mean she doesn't have any ghost weapons. She just got her powers. How much damage can she do?"

Tucker shrugged. "You said she has an ecto-blast. You didn't get yours for awhile after you got your powers."

"But I didn't know it was a possibility," Danny countered. "Or I would have tried sooner. The point is Tuck, it's less dangerous to tell her now before she figures everything out and starts getting strong."

"You know how to reach me if you need me," Tucker told Danny. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks Tuck," Danny told his friend as he walked to the door. Tucker smiled, waved then left.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

Valerie felt weird, like she really was getting ready for a date, as she kissed her father good night at nine pm. He would be in to check on her at eleven thirty, when he went to bed, and then she would have thirty minutes before her meeting with the ghost kid, and she was nervous.

She wanted to call Star and talk out her nervousness with her friend, but she didn't dare get caught talking on the telephone. She had tried again to lighten her sentence, but failed and conceded that she was better off letting her grounding stand as it was. Her father was getting annoyed and by the look on his face, she knew if she prodded any further, he was more likely to extend her grounding than anything else.

Valerie lay anxiously in her bed, in the dark, waiting for her father to go to bed. She was getting nervous. She looked at the clock. It was eleven forty five. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath then almost jumped in shock when her bedroom door opened. She quickly feigned sleep as he father walked into her room, tucked her in, placed a kiss on her forehead and walked out. She then waited another full minute before springing from bed and getting dressed.

She transformed into her ghost hunting suit, flew from her room and made her way to the roof of the school. She was a full five minutes early, just as she planned. She felt that beating the ghost kid to the school would provide her with an advantage, but he was late.

Valerie paced back and forth, deciding the ghost kid was a coward. He'd stood her up. She was angry. Suddenly, a blue burp erupted from her mouth and she spun around in time to see her enemy landing on the school roof. So much for her advantage.

"Sorry I'm late," he said almost breathlessly. "I got ummm, held up by my family."

"Your family?" Valerie asked in confusion as she stood on guard, ready for the ghost kid to make a move.

Danny smiled. "Yeah, my family," he said. "I'm not a full time ghost you know."

Valerie shook her head in confusion. "What are you talking about? You're trying to tell me that you're a part time ghost?"

Danny laughed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, it was a gesture which Valerie found vaguely familiar and unsettling. She watched him with wary eyes as he sat down on the edge of the roof.

"I don't believe a word you say, Ghost kid," Valerie told him as he sat with his back to her. She could have easily shot him and she warred with herself on whether or not she should blast him and be done with it, or give him a chance to explain himself.

"The name," Danny began. "Is Phantom, Danny Phantom."

Valerie laughed a little as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Oh okay, James Bond." He smiled at her over his shoulder and she narrowed her eyes at him, not wanting to laugh.

"Doesn't that sound familiar to you at all?" Danny asked. "I mean. Don't you know someone else named Danny?"

"Fenton?" Valerie asked. "I know Danny Fenton. What about him?" She wasn't about to trust this ghost, she wondered what trick he was about to pull on her.

"I'm him. I'm Danny. Fenton," Danny said quickly and Valerie cracked up laughing.

"You expect me to believe that you and Danny Fenton are the same person? No way. Danny is kinda goofy and clumsy."

"Oh thanks a lot," Danny said wryly.

"I didn't mean it that way," Valerie defended. "It's just Danny is the run away when things get tough type. He can't take care of himself. It doesn't mean I don't like him. I like goofy and clumsy. He's cute." She watched as the ghost kid blushed and shook she her head in confusion.

"Thanks," he said almost shyly. "But I'm not really a coward, and I've been through too many tough situations to count."

"You know I like him," Valerie began angrily. "And you're trying to use that knowledge to soften me up. We'll it ain't gonna work ghost. I'm not falling for any of your tricks!"

Danny sighed. "I'm not trying to trick you Valerie. I never have." He paused and blushed again. "You really like me?"

Valerie gave him a strange look and he shook his head. "Okay." He stood and walked a few steps from Valerie. "I'll prove it to you."

He took a deep breath and let the two silver rings that would change him back to his human form, envelop him in their ghostly glow. He looked at Valerie as the transformation completed. The look on her face was one of sheer horror.

"No," she half yelled as she shook her head in denial. "I don't know what kind of sick joke this is ghost, but don't you try to fool me into thinking you're Fenton. No!"

Danny took a deep breath. "You're favorite word is kumquat."

Valerie's eyes widened. "T-that's common knowledge," she stuttered. Then listened in amazement as Danny recalled everything she'd ever told him, and even little details about the dates they had.

"I had an accident in my parent's lab," Danny explained as Valerie stared at him with a look of terror on her face. She was so stunned that she didn't even realize that she'd transformed out of her ghost hunting gear and was standing there, completely vulnerable.

"You're a liar!" she accused angrily as she pointed at him. "Do you really expect me to believe you?"

"Tucker and Sam were there," Danny told her in a calm tone, hoping to keep her from freaking out any further. "I can call and have them here to verify that it's all true."

Valerie shook her head. "If it's true, then you've been deceiving me this whole time! For what? You let me like you for what? So you could get close to me? So you could destroy me?"

"I've never tried to destroy you!" Danny told her angrily.

"The hell you haven't!" Valerie yelled. "First you destroy my father's job, we lose all our money, and then you constantly attack me!"

"What do you mean I attack you?" Danny hollered in outrage. "You always attack me first!"

"That's only to keep you from attacking me!" Valerie told him as she watched him with narrowed eyes.

"You're logic is stupid!" Danny growled.

"So are you!" Valerie hissed. Danny roared in exasperation and Valerie resumed her defensive stance.

Danny turned to her and said in an incredibly angry voice. "The thing with your fathe's job was an accident! I was only trying to catch that stupid dog ghost! I wasn't deliberately trying to hurt you!"

"Whatever," Valerie said as she glared at Danny.

Danny looked at her angrily. "How can I convince you that I've never tried to hurt you. I've only tried to protect you?"

"You can't!" Valerie yelled. Danny looked up at the sky in exasperation.

"Listen," Danny finally said. "I didn't come here to confess my true identity."

Valerie closed her eyes. At the moment, she wasn't sure what she believed. Finding out the sweet guy she had a crush on, was the ghost kid she abhorred was incredibly upsetting. She wanted to believe it was just a trick the ghost kid was pulling on her to hurt her, but she knew in her heart he was telling the truth. She wanted to cry, the brief relationship she'd had with Danny was fake. All the feelings she's had for him were based on a lie. She hated him.

"Valerie," he said gently. "Please listen to me. Something has happened to you. Right?"

"No!" she denied still trying to get a grasp out of the situation. "Nothing has happened to me."

"You have ghost powers," Danny told her. "Like me."

"I'm not like you!" she growled angrily. "It's just a new feature of my new ghost fighting suit!" She felt out of control and she hated it.

"Where's your hover board?" Danny asked as he formed a green glowing ball between his hands. "Where are all your weapons? What happened? Why did your suit change?"

Valerie watched with her mouth open as Danny passed the ectoplasmic ball he'd form from one hand to the other. He threw it in the air then shot the ball with a blast, causing the ball to shower Valerie in green pin points of light that faded as soon as they touched her, as she tried to duck away from them.

"I was fighting that stupid Box Ghost," Valerie answered, feeling very shaken. "The suit malfunctioned, but I was fine, it just activated new features, that's all."

"I think," Danny started. "That a malfunction in the suit caused some kind of containment breech and flooded you with ectoplasmic energy. I think you're half ghost. Like me."

"No!" Valerie yelled vehemently. "I am nothing like you. I'll never be anything like you. I am not a ghost. I am a flesh and blood human girl!"

"And I am a flesh and blood human boy!" Danny told her. He held up his arm. "If you cut me I'll bleed…."

Valerie sneered at him. "And what now you're William Shakespeare?" Danny gave her a confused look and she laughed. "I'm not buying this, whoever you are."

"I'm Danny Fenton," Danny said tiredly as he watched Valerie change back into ghost form. She shot several blasts at him which he dodged.

"Please," Danny began as he changed to his ghost form. "I'm not trying to hurt you! I'm trying to help you. You don't have to go through this alone like I did."

"I don't believe you!" Valerie yelled as she shot a barrage of blasts as Danny. He realized quickly as a few shots hit him, that her blasts were weak, and he really didn't have too much to fear, so he stood still and merely protected himself with shields.

"I want to help you Val," Danny pleaded. "I want to be your friend! Can't we put aside our differences? I'm your friend. I always have been…"

"No!" Valerie yelled as she pointed at Danny. "You're not my friend. You're a trickster and a deceiver! I want nothing to do with you. Stay away from me or else."

"Or else what?" Danny asked.

"I'll tell the world what you are!" Valerie threatened. She was feeling incredibly panicked. She needed to get away from this creature, whatever it was.

"Fine," Danny said tiredly. "But as you know, most of Amity Park views me as a hero. You'll make my life more difficult, but you won't be hurting me Valerie. You on the other hand, I'm not too sure about."

"No body knows about me!" Valerie said indignantly. "Besides. I'm not like you."

"Yes you are! And they don't now, but they'll learn about you if they learn about me," Danny told her, leaving the rest of the threat hanging in the air between them. Valerie gave him an angry look and started to fly away.

"I want you to stay away from me, ghost!" she shouted over her shoulder. Danny sighed as he watched her go then sat down on the wall and hung his head in his hands.

"She didn't take it to well huh?" A voice asked from behind him. Danny turned to see Sam walking toward him.

"No," he answered. Sam sat beside him.

"I'm sorry," she said. Danny gave her a tired look and she sighed. They sat quietly for awhile.

"What are you doing here?" Danny finally asked. "I thought I told you and Tuck to stay away."

"You didn't tell us to stay away, you just told us you didn't need us here," Sam said. "I thought you might need to talk if things went bad."

Danny sighed. "You were right Sam. Are you happy now?"

Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You don't think much of me do you? Of course I'm not happy."

"Sam," Danny started then sighed. "I just don't need you rubbing it in that you were right."

"I'm not rubbing it in," Sam said defensively. "I would really rather be wrong. I'm sorry, Danny."

Danny stood and looked down at Sam. "I'll take you home," he said. Sam sighed and took the hand he held out to her.

"Danny," Sam started, but he shook his head as he helped Sam stand, put his arm around her waist, and started toward her house.

"I just didn't want to see you hurt," Sam finally said as Danny landed in her room and let her go.

"Then you shouldn't have shown up," Danny told her, not looking at her face. She sighed heavily.

"I worry about…" Sam began

Danny closed his eyes. "I don't need you to worry about me Sam!" he interrupted. "I can take care of my self and my own problems. I'm not stupid you know!"

"I never said you were," Sam replied as she put her hand on his arm. He pulled away from her.

"Just stop caring about me so much," Danny said, completely oblivious to the wounds he inflicted on his best friend. "I don't need you to care about me. I already have Jazz poking at my head all the time. I don't need you trying to pry open my heart."

Sam flinched away from Danny and took several steps back. "You know what, Danny?" she started. "I know you're hurting, but that doesn't give you the right to abuse me. I'm your friend…"

Danny tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling as he tuned Sam out. He sighed heavily then looked at her when she finished talking.

"It's late," he finally said. "I'm really tired, and so are you. Can we just forget about this?"

"Yeah," Sam said as she looked down in order to hide her tears. "I guess."

"Thanks," Danny said. If he had looked at his friend, he would have seen how crushed she was, but he never spared her a glance he simply told her good night and flew out the window. Sam shook her head as she watched him go, then shut the curtains and went to bed.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

Valerie was shaking when she finally made it home. She checked on her father then stole into the kitchen and picked up the phone and ran back to her room.

She jumped on her bed, flipped through her address book then dialed the number she needed.

"Vlad," she practically sobbed. "I'm sorry to call so late."

"It's quite all right, my dear," Vlad told her gently. "You can call me at any hour. You're upset. What happened?"

Valerie took a deep and relieved breath. "I had a run in with the ghost boy…" she began.

_**XxXxXxXxX **_

**I am so sorry it took me so long to update this story. I've been dealing with a rather severe case of writer's block. All my stories have been suffering. I've hopefully found a solution. I am working on an ORIGINAL work. You can find it over at Deviant Art. The link can be found on my profile.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

A gleeful smile spread across the evil face of Vlad Masters as he listened to Valerie frantically telling him the story of Daniel Fenton and her meeting with his ghost half at midnight. She believed that Danny had been taken over by a ghost, and someone needed to save him. Vlad resisted the urge to laugh out loud.

"I can't rescue him on my own," Valerie said, she sounded like she was on the edge of hysteria. "The new features on my suit just don't seem to work well enough. I need help Mr. Masters! How can I rescue Danny from the ghost kid?"

"The new features on your suit?" Vlad asked, his curiosity, if it hadn't been piqued before, was piqued now.

"Yes," Valerie answered then took a deep breath.

"I thought your suit was destroyed, Ms Grey," he said almost dangerously.

Valerie cleared her throat. "It was, but I got another one. It just, appeared."

"It just appeared?" Vlad asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Valerie said sheepishly knowing that her explanation sounded dumb. "But then I had an accident with the suit, and it changed."

"Tell me what happened," Vlad ordered.

"I was fighting a ghost," Valerie told him as she closed her eyes. "It caught me off guard and I slammed against a wall. The suit told me it was offline."

"Offline?" Vlad asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Valerie answered, she was beginning to grow nervous at the almost angry tone in Vlad's voice. "It said that ghost suit version 2.0 was offline and something about a breech in containment or something."

"Ecto containment?" Vlad asked very calmly.

"Yes!" Valerie answered in a relieved tone. "That's it. The suit told me to exit the suit, but I couldn't figure out how, and so there was this electric jolt and…I don't remember anything after that."

Vlad was silent for awhile. "You woke up obviously. Did you feel different? What happened?"

"My suit was gone," Valerie told him. "And my skin felt like I'd bathed in battery acid or something. I looked normal though. Then strange things started happening."

"Strange things?" Vlad asked curiously.

"Parts of my body started disappearing. The way my suit activates is different, and it looks different too. Instead of using the ecto-blasters, the beams come from my fingers instead I…"

"Valerie," Vlad interrupted trying very hard not to sound extremely excited. "Tell me…You said the way your suit activates has changed. Tell me about the process."

Valerie described the two rings and then how the color of her suit changed. She told Vlad that she thought maybe she was a ghost, but she was still alive, that it just must be some feature of the suit.

"That ghost kid," Valerie said angrily. "Tried to tell me he was Danny, and that he was half ghost, that I have became half ghost. It's ridiculous Vlad! That's not possible…is it?"

"Well my dear," Vlad said after a moment of quick thinking. "We live in a world of infinite possibilities. Perhaps it would be best if I came down to Amity Park and ran a few quick tests."

"Thank you Mr. Masters," Valerie said in relief.

"I will meet you first thing in the morning," Vlad informed her, keeping his voice calm and fatherly. "On the way to school. I'll take a few samples of your blood and have the results by the evening."

"I work at the Nasty Burger from four until nine," she told him. "Otherwise, I'm grounded, so that's the only time we can talk."

"I see," Vlad told her. "Don't worry about anything Ms. Grey. Let's run those tests and then we'll decide our next step."

"What about Danny?" Valerie asked.

"One step at a time dear girl," Vlad told her. "Let's figure out what's going on with you first, and then we'll worry about some ghost infested boy."

"Thank you Mr. Masters," Valerie said.

"I will see you in the morning," Vlad said happily. Valerie thanked him again and then hung up the phone and snuck it back into the kitchen. She felt much better knowing that Vlad was taking control of the problem. He had so many more resources at his disposal, and freedom…and money.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

Vlad chuckled evilly to himself as he hung up the phone and sat back in his chair. He placed his steepled fingers to his lips and smiled as his eyes sparkled with malicious glee.

"Well, well Daniel," he said to himself as he stood and made his way to his lab. "It looks like you have competition, and I have an even better protégé than I'd hoped for." He laughed, and began gathering together a few items he'd need to test Valerie. There were a few tell tale signs in a ghost hybrid's blood, and if Valerie had become a ghost hybrid by some strange twist of fate, then he would have a new ally, and life would have become just that much harder for Daniel.

Vlad continued to smile. This was the best news he'd had in months, in fact the only thing that would have made him happier would be hearing that his precious Maddie had filed for divorce from that oaf Jack Fenton. He sighed heavily and promised himself, that dream would come in time.

He made his way from the lab with plans already swimming in his twisted little mind. If Valerie turned out to be a genuine hybrid, then he would need to get her away from Danny as soon as possible. The last thing Vlad wanted was for Valerie to figure out that he himself was a ghost hybrid, at least not until she could accept her new power and him as her master.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_****

"Sam," Danny called as he caught up to her and Tucker on the way to school. She turned and looked at him with her normal friendly, or friendly for Sam, expression.

"I'm so sorry," he said breathlessly since he had ran all the way from home, frantic to catch up to his friends so he could apologize. "I was a jerk to you last night and I'm sorry."

Sam looked at Danny thoughtfully for a moment. "I'm sorry too," she said. They smiled at each other a moment then looked at Tucker.

"Wait," Tucker said in confusion. "What?"

Sam rolled her eyes and said, "I showed up at Danny's meeting with Valerie last night."

"And things really didn't go well," Danny added.

"So after she left, I let Danny know I was there," Sam continued.

"And I treated her like crap instead of being thankful that one of my friends was there to comfort me when I was hurting." Danny said as he looked at Sam. "I'm really sorry there was no excuse for my behavior."

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry about it Danny. It's no big deal."

"Wait," Tucker repeated as he looked back and forth between his friends. "Valerie reacted badly? Then how are you still here? Is she going to spill the secret? I thought she was supposed to kill you."

"Ha ha," Danny said sourly. "She did shoot at me, but I don't know." Danny rubbed his neck and looked at Sam.

"I don't think she's going to spill the secret, and she was too shocked to do anything but yell at Danny," Sam told Tucker, but held Danny's worried gaze.

"She yelled at you?" Tucker asked as he shot Danny and amused look then laughed.

"And shot at him," Sam told the techno geek. "But then she took off."

Danny sighed. "I'm hoping, since she didn't completely go berserk, that she'll come around and see reason."

"And hell will freeze over when?" Sam asked dryly. Tucker started laughing again and Danny shot him an angry glance.

"Wow, you're such a pessimist, Sam," Danny complained as he shot Tucker a look which told his friend that he didn't think his amusement was amusing.

"It's from years of practice," Sam told him and smiled slightly. Danny narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before finally smiling as his friend.

"Uh, guys?" Tucker asked, with a worried look growing on his face. "When you're done flirting with each other, you need to take a look across the street. I think we've got trouble." Both Danny and Sam turned in time to see Valerie climbing into a black limousine.

"Oh crud!" Danny cried his formerly happy expression changing to one of complete and utter defeat.

"You knew this was going to happen," Sam said calmly as she put her hand on Danny's arm. "You saw how she reacted to your confession about being half ghost, do you think she's going to react any better to Vlad? Especially considering how deeply he's been deceiving her?"

Danny sighed as he watched the limo with Valerie in it, drive away. "You're right."

"But Vlad isn't going to be stupid enough to tell her right away," Tucker said as he adjusted his glasses. "I mean it would be really dumb for him to confess, considering how much she hates ghosts and all."

Danny sent Tucker an annoyed look. "What?" Tucker asked innocently.

"Thanks a lot Tuck," Danny said then began walking to school. Sam gave Tucker an exasperated look the followed Danny.

"Not all is lost," Sam said as she caught up to Danny. "She has to be in school today right? Vlad's not going to kidnap her or anything."

"What?" Danny asked in surprise. "You think Vlad's above kidnapping?"

Sam shook her head. "I think Vlad wants Valerie for an ally, or at least to keep using her against him. She's not going to stay on his side if he takes her somewhere against her will. I bet you she's going to be in school today."

"I'll take you up on that bet," Tucker said. "Twenty bucks?"

"Tucker," Sam half laughed. "Have you ever considered that you're addicted to gambling?"

"No," Tucker replied. "I'm addicted to money."

"And tech gadgets," Danny added.

"And girls!" Tucker sighed and Danny laughed.

Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?" she asked as she looked up at the sky."

Danny put his arm around Sam and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "You know you love us, Sam," he said.

"At least one of us," Tucker whispered in Sam's ear. She gave him an angry look and he bounced away laughing.

Danny gave Sam a questioning look, obviously wanting to know what Tucker had whispered. "You don't want to know," she said as she shook her head and shot Tucker another irritated look. Tucker only chortled with glee.

The trio settled into silence as they resumed their walk to school, Danny with his head hung low, Sam with an extremely troubled scowl, and Tucker with his attention focused on his PDA.

Sam waited until they were climbing the steps of the hollowed halls of Casper High before she spoke. She had been thinking as they walked, trying hard to find a way to solve the problem of Valerie, besides knocking her in the head and mailing her to Timbuktu, which frankly was Sam's preferred solution.

"I think maybe," Sam started then swallowed hard. "Maybe I should try talking to her."

Danny's eyes lit up. "Really?" Sam shrugged her shoulders and Tucker shook his head.

"What?" Sam asked as she put her hands on her hips and looked at Tucker.

"I didn't say anything," Tucker said almost defensively. Sam gave him another irritated look.

"Okay," he started. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk to Valerie. She might turn on you. Think you're possessed or something. She might attack you."

Danny gave Sam a worried look. "Tuck has a point."

"Well," Sam said as turned and started walking away from them and into the school. "It's a chance we have to take." Tucker and Danny watched her go, looked at each other a moment, then followed Sam into the school.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

Valerie smiled as the black limo pulled up beside her and the window rolled down to reveale the smiling face of her savoir and mentor, Vlad Masters.

"Good Morning, Miss Grey," he said cheerfully.

"Hi," Valerie said breathlessly as the driver opened the door for her. She climbed inside then looked uncomfortably at Vlad who laid out a DNA collection kit out on the seat between them.

"While I'm preparing the test," Vlad said. "Show me how you transform." Valerie nodded her head and did as Vlad requested. He watched her very seriously as the rings enveloped her and then she sat looking at him in all her ghostly glory.

"Hmm," Vlad said maintaining an aura of calm. "That is very different Ms. Grey. Curious. Show me how you…disappear please." Valerie then did as Vlad asked as he ran her through several tests.

"I am unable to tell you exactly what has happened to you at this time, Ms. Grey," he started in an extremely business like tone. "But, I will be in contact with you this evening. I believe this bears further looking into."

Valerie looked at her hands and took a deep breath. "If something has happed to me, to give me ghost powers, can…can it be fixed? Can I return back to normal?"

"Why would you want to my dear?" Vlad asked in bewilderment. "Imagine all the good you could do with such amazing powers. You could stop ghosts from overrunning Amity Park and the world. It would be an extremely noble calling…"

"I don't need ghost powers to destroy ghosts," Valerie said stubbornly. "Can you do something about it?"

"I don't know," Vlad said as he rubbed his chin. "Let me run my tests and I'll know better what we're dealing with."

"What do I do in the meantime?"

Vlad smiled kindly. "I advise you to stay away from Daniel and his friends, who knows how deeply they've been corrupted by ghosts. It probably has something to do with that idiot Jack Fenton. He's always meddling with things he shouldn't be meddling with."

"When will you contact me?" Valerie asked worriedly, her mind already racing, trying to find a way to stay away from Danny, Tucker and Sam. She looked out the car window and saw Star standing on the steps of the school, talking to Paulina.

"You have nothing to fear," Vlad assured her. "Just stay away from Danny and his friends and I'll be contacting you as soon as I have the results of these tests."

"Thank you Mr. Masters," Valerie said then started to open the car door, but the driver beat her to it. Vlad waved at her and she looked at him worriedly then ran up the steps of the school toward Paulina and Star.

Vlad waited until the car was in motion again before picking up his cell phone and dialing Axion labs.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

"Why were you in that limousine?" Paulina asked cattily as Valerie stopped beside Star who was looking at her questioningly.

"The limousine belongs to…an associate of my father's," Valerie lied then winced at the look Star was giving her. "And it's none of your business." Star only looked at her blankly.

"Whatever," Paulina said dismissively. Then turned back to Star. "So if you want to come to the party Friday night, you have to have a new dress. We'll go shopping after school." Star nodded her head and looked at Valerie again who was looking worriedly over Paulina's shoulder.

Dash was standing near by and she could see Danny, Sam and Tucker standing by their lockers. Valerie shot a quick look at Star then walked over to Dash.

"Hi Dash," she said sweetly. He smiled at her warily. "Do you think you can do me a favor today? Since your so big and strong?"

"Sure, Babe," Dash said, obviously buying Valerie's charming act.

Valerie smiled and fluttered her eyelashes. "Those losers, Fenton, Manson and Foley have been giving me grief lately. I was wondering if you could keep them away from me, just for today. I really need a break. Can you keep them away from me?"

"Want me to rough them up for you?" Dash asked almost too excitedly.

"No," Valerie laughed weakly. "But can you walk me to class?" Dash looked uncertain for a moment.

"Please?" Valerie begged as she made eyes at Dash.

"Okay," Dash said as he sighed deeply. "But I can't walk you to every class. People will think we're together or something."

Valerie laughed and shook her head. "Just the first class will be fine Dash, thanks." He gave her an irritated look then walked with her. She looked at Danny and his friends out of the corner of her eye, and didn't relax until she was sitting safe at her desk.

She took a deep breath and dug in her backpack for her notes. A cold chill went through her as she realized the notebook she needed was in her locker. She swallowed hard as she looked out the door from her desk.

Valerie wasn't a girl who normally ran from her fears, but Vlad said to keep away from Danny and his friends, and he wouldn't make such a statement without a good reason. She looked at the notebook she held in her hand and decided it would have to do, she couldn't take her chances.

Unfortunately, Sam was in her next class. The Goth girl sat next to Valerie and looked at her.

"Can I help you?" Valerie asked stiffly as she stared straight ahead, not wanting to make eye contact with the girl.

"This is more about me helping you," Sam answered.

"You helping me?" Valerie laughed. "I don't think so."

Sam took a deep breath. "I'm not going to play games Valerie," she began, Valerie was still refusing to meet her gaze. "I'm going to lay it all on the line, here and now."

"I don't want to talk to you about it," Valerie growled.

"Danny is a good guy, the best guy. "His accident wasn't his fault, but he's making the best of what he's been given, and it hasn't been easy. He sacrifices a lot to keep the residents of Amity Park safe and…."

"Oh no!" Valerie growled softly as she interrupted. "I'm the one who makes the sacrifices, to keep Amity Park safe from the likes of him and the other disgusting creatures his presence obviously draws. He's a menace and he's dangerous."

"He's not dangerous!" Sam hissed. "At least not to the people of Amity Park!"

Valerie finally looked at Sam. "I think your letting your massive crush on Fenton get in the way of your judgment," she told the Goth acidly. "I don't think you even see clearly where he's concerned and he's got you fooled. You and Foley have been completely corrupted by ghosts. I don't know what really happened to Danny, but I intend to find the ghost responsible and rescue Danny from its influence!"

"Are you really that stupid?" Sam asked in amazement. "Because I hear stupid coming from your mouth, but it's just really hard to believe."

"Mr. Master's told me not to talk to you," Valerie said as she turned her eyes away from Sam, and I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone.

Sam shook her head angrily. "Of course Vlad doesn't want you to talk to us! He doesn't want to risk losing his perfect pawn!"

"I'm not his pawn!" Valerie growled angrily.

"Ask him," Sam started. "Ask him about Plasmius. Ask him about his history with Jack and Maddie Fenton. Ask him about his accident Valerie. Ask him why he wants to help you? Do some research on him Val; he's not known as a humanitarian. He doesn't help anyone, he only helps himself."

"Go away!" Valerie growled.

"Don't trust him Val, he's using you. He's been after Danny's dad for a long time and he's been trying to destroy Danny and…"

"Shut up!" Valerie screamed as she slapped her hand on her desk. The entire class turned and looked at Valerie and Sam in shock.

"Girl's," the teacher said. "Do we have a problem here?"

"No," Sam said as she sat back in her desk.

"Everything's fine," Valerie said as she turned away from Sam.

Sam took several deep calming breaths as she opened the book she was supposed to be reading then looked at Valerie who was staring blankly at the ground, a look of worry on her face.

"Valerie," Sam said. The other girl refused to acknowledge her. "I'm warning you now. Don't trust Vlad. Danny is…we're just trying to protect you Val."

"I don't need protecting," Valerie shot back. "Now I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone. I don't want to hear anymore ghost corrupted spew from your mouth."

Sam glared at Valerie a minute then decided she wasn't going to waste any more of her breath on the stubborn girl, though she did have to get one last lick in. "When everything comes falling down around you Valerie, and you realize how nasty, bitter, wrong and idiotic you were, remember, you were given the opportunity to save face. You were shown mercy and you rejected it."

Valerie closed her eyes, took a deep calming breath and hoped that Sam's tirade was the worst she would have to deal with until Mr. Masters told her what happened to her suit, because she didn't know how much longer she could keep her composure.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

The minute the bell rang, Valerie fled the class, not looking where she was going, she ran into Danny, who was looking for Sam to find out if she talked to Valerie. He put her hands on her shoulders to stabilizer her and she freaked out.

"Get your filthy hands off of me," Valerie cried as she pushed at Danny who let her go and watched her run down the hall.

"Sorry," Sam said. "I think I may have upset her more."

"Maybe we should have Jazz talk to her," Danny said thoughtfully.

Sam shook her head. "I don't think anyone can reach her. Her mind is made up."

Danny sighed heavily. "I need to get to class…" he told Sam almost helplessly.

"Don't worry," Sam said as she put her hand on Danny's arm. "We'll talk about this at lunch and figure something out."

"Okay," Danny reluctantly agreed as Sam nodded her head and they parted ways. He took a deep breath and made his way to class, debating on whether going to talk to Vlad about Valerie, would be wise.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

"Daddy," Valerie said in bewilderment as she walked in the door and found her father already home from work. "What are you doing home? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sweetie," Damon said happily. Valerie watched as he walked to the closet and began digging out suitcases.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously.

Damon turned and smiled at his daughter. "I've been given a fantastic opportunity Val," he started. "We're going to Wisconsin. We leave tonight. Vlad Masters himself has requested that I design a security system for his home in Madison."

"Really?" Valerie asked as relief and happiness rushed through her.

"I didn't want to leave you," he said. "And Mr. Masters agreeed that it would be good to bring you along, and as a perk of the job he'd hire several tutors so you don't miss your education while we're gone.

"Wow," Valerie said as her mind began to race. She wondered what Vlad had found out. What were the results of the tests? She supposed she'd find out soon. He'd found something, otherwise they wouldn't be going to stay at his house, unless of course it was to protect her from Danny.

"I hope you're not upset," Damon continued as he returned to pulling suitcases from the closet.

"Of course not!" Valerie said. "I'm very happy that you're getting this opportunity!"

"And a wonderful opportunity it is!" Damon continued as Valerie leaned against the wall and relaxed. Vlad would not only protect her, he'd make everything right again, and then maybe they could save Danny…and his friends.

"This could put us back on our feet again, Val," Damon continued, and then we could leave this ghost invested town.

"That's awesome," Valerie said absently as her mind raced, unfortunatly Sam's words came back to haunt her, and she began to feel doubtful, and worried. She sighed hoping that Mr. Masters could answer all of her questions, and put those doubts to rest.

_**XxXxXxXxX**_

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I am seriously blocked. The reason you are getting this chapter now is because I had most of it writen weeks ago, I just needed to tweak a few things. Please bear with me, I'll hopefully be updating my other stories soon.  
**


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